Would the Real Uchiha Please Stand Up?
by SaNdEr-ThE-rUbBeR-bAnDeR
Summary: Sasuke's life is perfect. He lives in a Mansion, His Older Brother is there to support him, and his schedule is perfect. He loves his schedule. But now, His father just had to adopt those 11 orphans from the orphanage. Oh Cruel Fate... [SasuSaku]
1. Meet the Uchihas

AN: YESS!!! I have been trying to upload this since forever!! its my personal favorite and I hope you all like it! thanX!!

(ok, everyone the mistakes are fixed. You see what happened was that my mom's all like "HEY GEWT OFF THE COMPUTER RIGHT NOW!! so instead of checking it and fixing it and putting lines in between...i actually had stars dividing the scene switching I just submitted it real fast. so thanx everyone and ja-ne!)

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, Sasuke would just get his arse back in konoha where it belongs. So obviously I don't.

* * *

Uchiha Sasuke woke up at exactly 5:00 AM.

The same time he had been getting up for the past ten years, ever since he had started school. He stood up and headed straight for the shower without a moment's hesitation. Following his precisely 15 minute shower he got dressed and pulled out his schoolbooks.

He pressed a button on his dresser and 2 minutes later a maid entered bearing a tray with his breakfast on it.

His traditional breakfast that he had been eating for, you guessed it, the past ten years. A bagel with extra thin cream cheese topped with tomato slices. The maid quickly made his bed and rushed out of the room.

He had one hour and thirty minutes before he had to go. No big deal.

Although I have a personal rule against writing long, boring descriptions, it is absolutely necessary to describe Sasuke's room or the rest of this story will make no sense whatsoever.

Sasuke's room is about as big as your living room.

Times three. Bathroom not included.

His room was on the very top floor of the mansion in which he and his brother lived. One wall was covered with VCRs DVD players, sound systems and a giant TV.

This was not to suggest that he watched a lot of TV.

Quite the opposite actually, but Sasuke was Sasuke therefore he had to have the best of everything.

Another wall was actually a pair of giant French doors that led to a balcony, the sun was now beginning to rise and light was streaming in through the glass.

Sasuke bit into his bagel and began working through his homework, subject by subject.

This may seem odd to people like you and me, but just as I have a personal rule against descriptions, Sasuke had a personal rule against school.

School time was from 5:00 AM to 3:00 PM, that was it.

Sasuke would not spend another second thinking about school unless it was absolutely necessary. This is why he refused to spend his waking hours after school doing something as meaningless as homework.

Sasuke was now finishing up his least favorite subject, English (or Japanese, or whatever).

He slammed his books shut and stood up glancing towards the gilded clock that hung on his wall.

6:45… well there was no point in going to school early… Sasuke normally left at 7:00 and Sasuke was not one to interrupt his routine… EVER.

Sasuke loved his monotonous, never changing, sometimes boring lifestyle. It was EVERYTHING to him.

So he decided to get in 15 minutes of training before leaving. Training was his spare time activity it was what he ALWAYS did in his spare time.

ALWAYS.

Since I know, and now you know as well, how much dear little Sasuke Kun loves his routine, schedulized, preplanned lifestyle, I feel somewhat sorry for what is about to happen to him.

* * *

A resounding crash threw Sakura from the top of the bunk bed.

"AAAAAAAH!" She screamed as she hit the floor.

"Ouch…" she muttered rubbing her head.

"CHANDEROU!!!" Her inner self screeched. That was not how she would have preferred to get up, but when you live in an orphanage when do things ever happen according to your preferences?

"Fight! Fight! Fight!" the Kids around her shouted.

"Huh?" she thought in confusion, she didn't want to fight anyone… Then she realized they weren't speaking to her.

"Take it back!" Naruto shouted. Sakura stared at her best friend in confusion, who should take what back?

"Like hell I will!!" Inuzuka Kiba shouted defiantly wrenching his head free from where it was stuck in the bed frame.

"Ah," thought Sakura, "so that's what woke me up."

Sakura stepped in between the arguing pair like the peacemaker that she was. "Stop it you two! Why on earth are you fighting so early in the morning?!" She shouted indignantly.

"Uzumaki called Kiba a mutt" a tall lanky teenager said. "Kiba made fun of Hokage though!" a girl with a high pitched voice said.

"Ooooooh" said everyone. No one with half a brain would ever make fun of Hokage in front of Naruto… EVER.

Sakura swallowed nervously, "enough is enough Naruto!" she said insistently. "What if the matron comes by?"

That got their attention. The crowd rushed out of the room.

Kiba began straightening everything up and Sakura and Naruto each grabbed one end of the bunk bed, turning it around so the dented part would face the wall, invisible to the matron.

"Gomen ne, Sakura-chan" Naruto said sheepishly.

"That's all right, daijabon." She said simply.

Everyone stiffened as they heard footsteps, but it wasn't the matron, it was only Ino.

Sakura sighed in relief.

"You guys are really late hurry up and eat breakfast or there won't be anything left." Ino said, and she was probably right. Ino never misses breakfast but she never eats it either.

"Right," said Sakura "let me just finish up here."

"Yeah sure" replied Ino heading back down the hallway. "Oh by the way," she said poking her head back through the doorway "Tenten and Neji are…" here she trailed off and finished the sentence by raising her pinky finger. Then she laughed like mad and left again.

Sakura dropped the blanket she had been folding.

"Whaa-"she said in confusion "Eh! Ino wait! Chotto Matte!"

She ran off leaving Naruto and Kiba to finish the room. They did so in absolute silence only shaking their heads every so often.

Yes, the 11 genins we know (minus Sasuke) were orphans living here at this orphanage, truly believing (especially Neji) that they were destined to stay at this orphanage for the rest of their lives, never to be adopted.

They were wrong of course. Very wrong. Soon they would all be adopted together…

* * *

Having finished his training, Sasuke snapped his fingers and a maid rushed forward to do his bidding. "Get my things" he said simply heading towards his limousine. She rushed off to gather his things and managed to hand it to the driver 5 seconds before he sat down.

In 15 minutes they arrived at the school building. Sasuke looked around cautiously before making his way to the double doors.

He stealthily grasped the handle, then glanced around the grounds one last time before pushing them open… only to have the world's most hideous monster jump on him.

"Sasuke!" Ami Hitakitekate shouted happily.

"How did you know I'd be here?" Sasuke demanded shoving her off angrily.

"Don't be silly, Silly!" She replied with a laugh. "You always walk through these doors at exactly 7:18!"

She pinched his cheek.

He slapped her.

Well, he didn't, but he wanted to.

Instead he just settled for letting his eyebrow twitch like mad. Worse, was the fact that he couldn't give any reply. He DID always walk through those doors at exactly 7:18 every single day, but that was part of his routine, he wasn't about to change it not even for Ami Hitakitekate.

Yes, her name is Ami Hitakitekate, but most people just call her "Kit Kat". Sasuke stormed off, he did not want to spend one second more around Ami Hitakitekate or any of his fan girls than necessary.

He headed straight through the hallway to his homeroom and science class. Seating himself in the desk at the front and far left he instantly settled his elbows on the desk and clasped his hands in front of his face in the typical Sasuke pose.

He stared at the window and behaved as if he were completely oblivious to the world. Because he knows, just as we know, it doesn't get any cooler than that.

Eventually Orochimaru walked through the door. Sasuke struggled to ignore the smile his science teacher was beaming at him.

Some said Orochimaru was gay. Sasuke believed it; after all he was Orochimaru's victim.

Orochimaru licked his lips with his 20-foot tongue in a disgusting manner. "Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeewww" said all the students, except for Sasuke; he was just too cool for that.

"All right," said Orochimaru, heading to the front of the classroom, "Everyone take out the diagram of snake anatomy I assigned yesterday." They all pulled out their diagrams.

"Oh my gosh!" squeaked Orochimaru as he rushed to Sasuke's desk.

"What a beautiful diagram!" some kids rolled their eyes, Sasuke was tempted to join in.

"This is sooo cute! What a shame I have to look at all the other pathetic ones after seeing this fantastic diagram!"

Sasuke knew it wasn't true, but it didn't have to be.

When your mentally challenged teacher decides he likes you, you can turn in chicken scratch and get an A+. Not that he would.

"Now Sasuke," continued Orochimaru, " would you please collect the diagrams?"

"No." Sasuke replied simply.

"Ok" said Orochimaru with a shrug, "Ami, you do it."

Ami jumped up and swayed around the classroom like a drunkard collecting everyone's diagrams. There was more eye-rolling.

"Ok!" Orochimaru began "Everyone take out your books and turn to page 312."

There was reluctant shuffling as everyone followed his orders. "Sasuke please begin reading at the top of the page." Orochimaru said with a smile peering down on his favorite student.

Sasuke sighed but what choice did he have?

"Snake Transportation, Teleportation, and Telekinesis."

He blinked, had he read that correctly?

"For many years mankind has believed that snakes were just ordinary animals. This theory was proved incorrect when snakes proved themselves to be one of the rare species that can perform telekinesis" he continued, blinking 7x as much as he normally would.

"This was proved when a garden snake activated its powers of telekinesis and landed George W. Bush on a monkey's head. This video can be seen at www. youtube. com"

(THIS VIDEO DOES NOT ACTUALLY EXIST)

What the hell? Why couldn't his teacher make them read from normal textbooks?

"Very good, Sasuke!" said Orochimaru "Now, what does that mean?"

Sasuke gave his teacher a dry look reconfirming his original suspicion that his teacher was a retard.

* * *

Sakura mopped the floor vigorously. The matron had insisted that the entire front hallway be spic-and-span for the "big shot" guests that would be coming.

It made no sense to her, the matron had never insisted on special treatment for anyone.

However Haruno Sakura was not expected to argue, she was expected to work which is exactly what she did, but she wasn't a robot and she would wonder about it as much as she pleased.

"Whoooa!" Naruto exclaimed slipping across the freshly mopped floor. Sakura grabbed him just in time to keep him from knocking down the bucket of mopping water and steadied him.

"What is it Naruto? What do you want?" She demanded with her hands on her hips.

"Eh hehe, Sakura- chan we gotta get outta here!" He said waving his hands around.

"Huh? What do you mean?" She asked in confusion but she was already picking up the bucket and mop.

"I just saw a big black limo pull up to the orphanage!" He said dragging her along.

They heard footsteps,

"Quick!" Naruto said, eventually they collapsed into an orphan unit wildly out of breath. Sure enough, they soon heard the voice of the matron welcoming someone into the orphanage. Naruto grinned at her and they both burst out laughing.

Naruto went with her as she dumped the mopping water and told her everything he had seen, which wasn't much.

"And this guy was all wearing this fancy schmancy suit and he had this uber rich kid with him! I think it was his son!" Naruto concluded enthusiastically.

"But…" Sakura began sensibly, "If he already has a son why would he want to adopt someone?"

Naruto pondered this, "uh… I don't know, Sakura-chan…" he trailed off trying to figure out the answer.

"It's all right, never mind" She said with a smile. Picking up the now empty bucket, they went inside together as Sakura placed both bucket and mop in the utility closet.

"Sakura! Naruto! There you are!" Ayame, assistant to the matron, shouted running up to them.

"Hurry up the Matron wants you in the head office, now! And Sakura for heavens sakes get that white cloth out of your hair you look like a maid!" As they ran trying to keep up with Ayame, Sakura wondered why it would matter that she looked like a maid, hadn't she been working like a maid ever since her first day in the orphanage?

They came to the door of the head office and Ayame pushed them inside, closing the door behind them.

"Ah! There are our darling little stragglers! They don't do this normally… eh he he." The matron said in a false show of kindness.

Sakura stared at the people in the room in surprise.

There was the man Naruto must have been talking about, and his son, who was, she hated to admit it, very handsome.

Furthermore, standing in front of the father and son was every one of her good friends and they were standing in this order: Shino, Chouji, Shikamaru, Ino, Hinata, Neji, Tenten, Lee, Kiba, and then there was Naruto and Sakura standing at the doorway.

The father and son glanced at her, then at Naruto, then at her again.

Sakura blushed and instantly realized why Ayame had wanted her not to look like a maid and she wished she had followed her advice.

She felt so out of place standing before these brilliant men in their polished clothes, while she was expected to change her own clothes only once every three days.

"Well, what do you think Itachi?" Asked the older man.

His son merely replied with an arrogant gesture and said "Why ask my opinion when you're already clearly determined to do something foolish."

Sakura liked him instantly, honest, to-the-point, and not afraid to speak his mind. You don't find people like that every day.

As the Matron and the Father of Itachi made arrangements, Sakura self-consciously rolled down her sleeves and pulled the white cloth from her hair folded it and put it into her pocket.

"Sakura-chan," Naruto whispered.

"Nanio?" she replied. "I think they want to adopt us." He said.

"Don't be stupid!" She replied not wanting to get her own hopes up. "Would they ever want to adopt all of us?" she gestured at the rest of them standing there in line.

"I don't know," Naruto began "but I think they want some orphans and the Matron instantly decided to get rid of the orphans she likes least."

Sakura thought about that. "That sounds plausible…" she said "but I wonder who they are going to choose."

She suddenly grasped Naruto's hand. "I hope we get to stay together" she whispered.

This was not to say that Naruto and Sakura had a romantic interest in each other. Naruto was the closest thing Sakura had to a brother; he had helped her through various situations. Now she was not sure she would be able to manage without her dearest friend.

"Sakura" said Ino somewhat irritatedly, "can you at least try not to look like a pathetic forlorn orphan girl?"

Sakura stared at Ino with a raised eyebrow, if she looked that way she was not doing it intentionally.

"Stop bothering me, Ino-pig" she hissed under her breath.

Their conversation was cut short when they heard the matron gasp.

"A-All of them?! "She asked in shock.

"I believe that's what I said" Itachi's father replied calmly.

"Oh my!" the matron had to grab a chair and sit down.

"If it doesn't seem too forward I would like to ask, why would you do something like this all of a sudden?"

"Of course," Itachi's father said quite jovially "I've decided it is time for my money to be put to a good use."

The matron smiled "of- of course well you'll just have to sign these papers."

She then seemed to realize the orphans were still standing there and quickly shooed them out the door. They decided to hold a council to discuss their future.

* * *

Sasuke headed to his favorite class not knowing it would be the worst class of his day.

It was Math, which was normally taught by Hatake Kakashi, the only person Sasuke ever bothered to occasionally call "sensei".

Sasuke was not expecting the fat, balding man who sat at Kakashi's desk.

A substitute teacher.

This was a broach of Sasuke's routine. "What a bad omen…" thought Sasuke with irritation.

"Sit Dooown!' The man barked spraying spit all over Sasuke.

Sasuke blinked.

He then made a big show of grabbing a tissue, wiping his face, and then throwing it away as if it were contaminated, which, in fact, it was.

Sasuke then headed calmly towards his seat.

"Now listen here!!" Yelled the man, spraying even more saliva in Sasuke's direction.

"I'm the teacher!! And I don't want no wannabe rich no-good prissy boy messing around in my class!!"

Prissy boy? Oh no, he didn't. But yes, in fact he did.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the man, and said calmly, "I won't warn you twice."

The man said , "That's it! They warned me about you! But I never would have expected this! That's it! Principals office now!"

Sasuke felt as if he had involuntarily gone swimming.

He merely sighed and reached into his pocket.

He took out a cell phone. All the students gasped.

The teacher only looked at him in confusion.

Sasuke sighed once more flipped the phone open and dialed auto 1.

He then showed it to the teacher.

The fool sneered, "Itachi?" He asked "You're calling a weasel?! How pathetic, GWABWAHAHA!"

The students reacted differently. "He's calling Itachi?!?!" "Oh SHIT!!" "$# RUN FOR COVEEER!!!" They all cowered under their desks.

Itachi picked up on the 2nd ring.

"Hn?" was all he said.

"Ohaiyo," said Sasuke. "Nisan, we have a problem."

3 minutes into the conversation the principal came in and fired the man on the spot. This left Sasuke and his classmates with a free period.

"Man! We sure are lucky Itachi didn't come in person!" One guy said. "Damn right!" agreed another.

Math was his last period and since it was over, he decided to head home early.

The limousine was there in moments and Sasuke sank into the leather seats wearily.

"Sir," began the driver. Sasuke raised an eyebrow, that was awkward.

Servants don't talk.

"Nanio?" he drawled. School had really taken its toll on him.

"Your brother left you a note." Sasuke was no longer lazy he sat up straight and reached for the piece of paper that was offered to him.

Sasuke,

Father is home. Be prepared.

Itachi

That was it, but it was enough. His Father wasn't supposed to be back for another week. That would make it the third broach of routine in one day. A very bad omen. He gripped the paper tightly, something was definitely up.

* * *

"It makes no sense" said Tenten.

"According to what the matron said, The Uchiha family wants to adopt all of us," said Chouji.

"Why would they do such a thing?" Queried Neji inquisitively.

"Let's just see what happens, there's no point in getting our hopes up for no reason." Sakura said reasonably.

"If it does work out, we'd all be rich!" said Ino. "We'd be shopping day in and day out."

"There is more to youthfulness than shopping Ino-san." Said Rock lee wisely.

"I know that!" Ino snapped "I'm only saying it would be fun. For how you guys act, you must think I'm a dense dumb blonde or something." She paused, "wait, don't answer that."

They all laughed. The people who ever laughed did anyway.

"For now," said Shino "I'm in favor of what Sakura said; let's not make plans over nothing." Sakura shot him a grateful glance.

"Hey has anyone seen Naruto and Kiba?" asked Sakura.

They all looked around, but there was no doubt about it, the two weren't there. Just at that moment, Naruto burst through the door, closely followed by Kiba.

"They ARE adopting us! ALL of us!" They all blinked at him.

"It's true!" Said Kiba, "We were hiding in the closet when everyone else left, they made plans and signed papers and we have to go to their mansion TODAY!"

"Kiba," said Shino, "that was a run-on sentence."

"WHO CARES!?" Shouted Naruto indignantly.

"That means… we'll be getting all our things back." Said Sakura.

There was a moment of silence; everyone had some treasured possessions that were taken away for "safekeeping" when they first entered the orphanage.

Sakura had a necklace her mother had made for her, it was a necklace with a white stone that curved delicately and tapered to a point at the end.

The stone wasn't valuable, and it didn't hang from a chain, just a bit of black wire but they had taken it from her anyway. She mourned the loss of that necklace every night until she met Naruto.

"Well…" said Tenten. "I can scarcely believe we are all gonna stay together."

They all grinned. Friends stuck together. And they were doing a fairly good job of it.

Ayame eventually found them and told them to pack their things. They went off to do as they were told, and for once, nobody was complaining.

* * *

Sasuke was expecting something; he thought he was ready for whatever his father would throw at him.

He was wrong.

Itachi had told him to be prepared and he had tried, but he had failed.

There was no way his father could expect him to actually agree with him.

"What?" he asked, he must have heard wrong.

"You realize the situation I'm in, the media is attacking me from all sides. They're saying I'm a miser. Playing a loose hand for my own luxuries without any concern for anyone else." Uchiha Fugaku explained.

Sasuke knew what the media was saying, but that didn't meant it was true. His father donated 2 million dollars to nonprofit organizations annually.

"Now they're trying to convince the government to revoke my position. We can't let that happen!" Uchiha Fugaku insisted.

"I understand all that," said Sasuke rubbing his temples "but why adopt 11 orphans why not one or two?"

Sasuke was now beginning to see he would have to give in, but he wouldn't give up without first setting his terms.

"Because!" exclaimed Fugaku, "It's never been done before!"

He was wrong, of course, but for kindnesses sake I'm going to let him imagine he's right.

"That's not true," said Itachi.

"Well at any rate I'm not going to adopt any more than eleven. 11 is enough, give the media something else to talk about." Fugaku said.

Sasuke sighed again.

When you are in a grand house, surrounded by luxuries, you may be proud of all your possessions, but when it catches fire, you quickly choose which few you value most and save them.

This was the dilemma Sasuke was experiencing.

First and foremost was his privacy, he didn't want anyone in the rooms on either side of him, so he made a quick decision,

"Very well but I want the room on my right and the one on my left." He demanded.

Fugaku looked confused by this. "Why?" he asked.

"Because I want it, isn't that enough?" Sasuke had never tried this approach before and he wondered how well it would work.

Fugaku shrugged and agreed.

Itachi instantly saw the wisdom of Sasuke's request and quickly made the same demand. Fugaku agreed once more.

Sasuke did not have to worry about the room in front of him seeing as that one was occupied by Itachi.

Sasuke sighed and stood up. He bowed to his father and said "I thank you for including me in this counsel of your actions. If you so desire, I will be content with what you decide."

Fugaku nodded. "They will arrive in an hour."

"WHAT?!"

That one woke the neighbors up, or it would have if they had been sleeping at 4:30.

"Do you mean to say," began Sasuke "that you adopted these orphans without so much as speaking to me about it?!"

"I have spoken to you about it." Countered Fugaku.

"After you adopted them." Sasuke said through gritted teeth.

Itachi gave him a look, it was one of those, it's-completely-hopeless-so-let's-just-drop-it looks.

"Don't make a fool of yourself. Just go get decent before they arrive." Fugaku said firmly. Sasuke wanted to say something like, "Like they would know the difference" but he thought better of it and went to go take a shower, again.

* * *

A/N: MUAHAHAHA! That was so much fun! Yeah, I wanted Fugaku to believe he was right but clearly Itachi didn't. Sasuke's substitute was laughing because Itachi's name means "weasel".

Well, tell me how you like it and I'll try to upd8 asap! Best of luck, Ja-ne! 8 pages!! I'm on a roll!

* * *

Nanio: What is it?

Arigato : Thank You

Chotto Matte : Wait! or Wait Up!


	2. Dinner

AN: Yes, I am updating because this is my favorite story so far. I am glad you all liked it, and sorry about how it turned out earlier. If you haven't already read the notice, what happened was that my mom was shouting at me, so I submitted it really quickly and the borders dividing the scene switching got deleted. Anyway, here's the story.

* * *

Chapter 2: Meet the Family

* * *

Sasuke headed to his room, what would he do? What could he do? How to escape the torture?!

He pulled out a black suit and headed into the shower. 'There must be some way out.' He thought to himself.

These orphans would be the end of him, all the noise they would make, all the things they would break…!

Sasuke calmed down, well, he would just have to teach these little kids a thing or two, and maybe he could hire someone to supervise them, so that they wouldn't get on his nerves.

Feeling a bit better, he finished up his shower and got dressed. He blow-dried his hair, used a little gel to keep it in place, and Voila! Sasuke was looking like Sasuke!

He looked at his reflection; the mirror was a bit steamy. He used a towel to wipe away the steam. Onyx eyes met onyx eyes. He looked like he was going to a meeting.

He scoffed 'A meeting with the Devil, maybe.'

He then left the room, only to find his brother leaning against the opposite wall with his arms crossed.

"Itachi?" he asked, confused.

Itachi looked up, "Hn."

"Were you waiting for me?" asked Sasuke narrowing his eyes in disbelief.

"Hn." Said Itachi again.

Sasuke raised a brow.

"Better you than Father, now let's go," said Itachi turning to leave.

"What can I say?" said Sasuke with a smirk, "I feel flattered."

The two brothers headed down the hallway and down the stairs. Down another hallway and down another set of stairs. Hallway. Stairs. Hallway. Stairs.

(I did mention that they lived at the top of the mansion, didn't I?)

They finally reached the main entrance. The front door opened into a HUGE hallway, following down this hallway you would reach a GIANT living room.

This living room, in which Sasuke and Itachi were now standing, had marble floors, uber-expensive furniture, and seven chandeliers.

That's right, SEVEN CHANDELIERS, This living room, is really, really big.

Uchiha Fugaku stepped into the living room. "There you two are."

He paced back and forth, "This could be used against me… But no, it's a good cause... it doesn't matter… it does matter…" He mumbled to himself incoherently.

Uchiha Mikoto, Sasuke's mother, joined them and patted her husband comfortingly on the back.

"Don't worry dear, I'm sure everything will be fine." She said smilingly.

"Well," she said turning to her two sons. "They will be here any minute."

She was beaming as her eyes passed over first Itachi, then Sasuke. No one knew it but Mikoto loved her sons at least twice as much as their father did.

She noticed how tall they were growing, and how handsome they were, and her Mother's heart twinged with pain. She sighed and put her arm around Sasuke.

"How are you, then, Sasuke?" she asked.

Sasuke raised a brow at her.

"I haven't seen you in a while." She said with a grin. She then turned away from Sasuke and patted Itachi's cheek.

"I love you both, and no matter what happens, that will never change, understand?" She still smiled.

But this is reasonable. She, of course, had no idea whatsoever what these orphans would do. Let's let her remain in this false hope for a while, because, after this, the Uchiha family would never be the same again.

DIIING DOONG!

Sasuke looked at Fugaku. Mikoto looked at Fugaku. Itachi looked at Fugaku. Fugaku looked at Itachi.

Itachi lowered his head a moment, then he clapped his hands. A maid stepped forward.

"Show them in." He said.

* * *

"Alright, everyone! Come on! You're late as it is!" Ayame shouted to the orphans trying to hurry them up.

Sakura rushed to the Matron's office hastily looked through her drawers and cupboards. If the Matron found her, she was dead, but there was no time to worry about that.

Pulling open a drawer, she caught sight of a white stone, plain and non-glowing.

She grinned and pulled it out of the drawer. She also caught sight of a turquoise necklace, and remembered a story Naruto had once told her. She took that as well, shut the drawer and turned to rush out of the room.

As she reached the door, she saw it open and saw the bulky body of the Matron standing in the doorway.

With a gasp Sakura realized there was only one thing she could do. Clutching both necklaces tight, she braced herself and threw herself against the Matron with all her force.

The Matron stumbled backwards and Sakura ran down the hall, forcing one foot in front of the other, faster and faster.

"Hey!" the matron shouted angrily.

Grinning, despite her scary situation Sakura tied her necklace around her neck as she ran. Now only the turquoise one remained in her hand.

She kept running past the main hallway and out through the front courtyard, where Naruto was trying to delay the limousine that was waiting for them.

Sakura barely had time to register the limousine's presence. Naruto held the door open for her and she rushed in, beaming as she struggled to catch her breath.

"Yata!" said Naruto. "You got it!" She nodded with a big smile, still trying to catch her breath.

Seated next to Naruto, Sakura noticed the other nine orphans sitting in the limousine. Ino was hitting Shikamaru on the head.

Chouji was munching on some chips. Kiba was talking to Akamaru. Tenten was resting her head on Neji's shoulder and he had a comforting arm around her.

Hinata was sitting on the other side of Naruto. A heavy blush was on her cheeks, probably because she was sitting next to Naruto.

Sakura looked around the limo. It was really long. The seats were not placed horizontally like in normal cars, they were vertically aligned against the sides of the car, each seat extending from the wall separating them from the driver to the back of the car. In the back of the car there was one more seat against the back wall, on which Lee, Ino, and Shikamaru were sitting.

Sakura looked at her hand and held the turquoise necklace up to Naruto. He looked at it in surprise.

"Eh, Sakura-chan, is that…?" He took it from her. "Tsunade-baa-chan…" he whispered affectionately. He stared at it for a long time before sighing and putting it down.

"Aren't you going to put it on?" asked Sakura eagerly.

"Ehehe…" Naruto scratched his head sheepishly. "Actually, I…" he shook his head, "Tsunade-baa-chan would be really disappointed in me, I don't think I can…"

He sighed and looked at the necklace again. "Besides…" he pressed a hand to his heart.

"Tsunade-baa-chan lives in here," He grinned at Sakura, not sure if she understood.

"Yare, yare" said Sakura with a smile. "Naruto has gotten mature…" She stuck her tongue out at him.

"Oh," Said Naruto as if he suddenly realized something. He turned to Hinata who had been sitting quietly, looking out the window the entire time.

"Ne, Hinata-chan." He said calling her attention.

Startled, she turned around. "N- Naruto-kun?"

He tied the necklace around her neck. Hinata went bright red.

"This is a gift from me, and you can think of me whenever you wear it." He smiled at her as he scratched his head.

Sakura grinned as she watched the scene unfold.

"N- Naruto-kun…" Said Hinata looking at the necklace.

"I- I can't accept this." She said firmly, but sadly.

"Eh? Why not?" asked Naruto with confusion.

"Because, this necklace means something special to you, it's important to you, so I can't accept it." She clarified regretfully.

"Ah." Said Naruto nodding. "That's true, but, I can't wear it." He explained.

"So, it's kind of pointless. That's why I'm giving it to you. Then it can mean something to you, and you can wear it, understand?"

He sighed and tried to explain further. "What I mean is, it shouldn't go to waste, it should become special to you, and then you can wear it all the time, ne?" He grinned at her.

Hinata stared down at the necklace. "A- Arigato, Naruto-kun."

Sakura smiled at the pair, Hinata's feelings for Naruto were no secret. Everyone knew about it, or everyone except for Naruto, that is.

"Hey," Said Tenten suddenly.

Everyone turned toward her. "The limo is stopping."

"Hm," Said Neji in confirmation. They all sat up straight in grim anticipation.

Eventually the limo careened to a smooth stop and the chauffeur opened their door.

They all piled out, one by one.

Then they stood there, unsure of what to do as the chauffeur got back in the limo and drove away.

"Uhh…" said Kiba intelligently.

"Where should we go from here?" asked Lee.

Neji scanned the area with a critical eye.

A manservant with a French moustache stepped forward, "Allow me the honour of showing you to your new home." He said, bowing deeply.

"Er…o.k.?" said Ino.

They all followed him as he led the way down a long courtyard, where they caught glimpses of statues and fountains and all sorts of strange things until they arrived at a pair of large, magnificent double doors.

He pressed a button, and they heard a ring inside the castle.

'At least they have a normal doorbell...' thought Sakura.

The night was chilly, and Sakura shifted from one foot to the other as she waited for the door to open.

She was standing in the back of the line of the eleven orphans and leaned to one side trying to see if the door had opened.

A shaft of light let her know that the door was, in fact, open.

"Please step in!" a cheery voice said.

Knowing the Uchiha Family as well as we do, we know that that voice could only belong to one person.

Uchiha Mikoto.

* * *

As the orphans crowded into the hallway, Mikoto smiled, Fugaku shivered, Itachi frowned, and Sasuke scowled.

Fugaku was wearing a black suit with a grey tie. Mikoto was wearing a black knee-length dress with a pearl necklace and pearl earrings. Itachi was wearing a black suit with a black tie, and Sasuke was wearing a black suit with a red tie.

Thus, with their black eyes and black hair, they looked SIMPLY EVIL.

As the door shut, Mikoto said "Please introduce yourselves as you step into the living room."

Sasuke watched them through narrowed eyes. The first one forward was a male of average height, who had his hair tied back in a spiky rebellious ponytail.

"My name is Shikamaru…" he paused.

" I am 17 years old," he paused and sighed

"and I like shougi…" he paused again.

"geez, how troublesome." He stepped aside.

Sasuke panicked. Seventeen?! These kids were close to his age, they would never accept his orders and would never leave him in peace.

His only hope was to stay by himself as much as possible.

The next one forward was a blonde with blue eyes. "My name is Ino!" she announced happily.

"I like my friends and I hate anyone and everyone who tries to hurt them" she narrowed her eyes at the Uchiha family.

Fugaku and Mikoto shivered.

"ANYONE." Ino emphasized. Then she stepped aside.

A boy with a dog on his head stepped forward.

Sasuke's inner self screamed. A dog?! A dog! This would be the end of him, the end of his furniture, the end of his homework, the end of his room, the end of his life!!

"My name is Inuzuka Kiba! I like Akamaru and Stew, and spicy food, and I dislike cats."

He grinned and stepped aside.

A fat kid with a bag of Doritos in his hand stepped forward, Sasuke saw his Mother wince.

Uchiha Mikoto abhors junk food, and she abhors anything and everything related to fat.

"I am Chouji. I like food, and I like tasting all the different kinds of food, and finding out which cuisine is best. I dislike…" he paused.

"Things that smell good but are not edible, like strawberry bubble bath."

With that he stepped aside leaving all eight Uchiha eyebrows twitching. (LOL!)

A girl with her hair in two buns on the side of her head stepped forward.

"I am Tenten!" her voice was energetic. "I like cars, and weapons, I like studying the history of weapons and I hope to have the world's largest weapon collection one day!"

She stepped aside.

"And?" asked Uchiha Mikoto.

"Huh?" asked Tenten looking up in surprise.

"What do you dislike?" asked Mikoto.

"Oh…. Make-up. I despise Make-up." Tenten said firmly.

Mikoto smiled and Neji stepped forward.

"I am Hyuuga Neji. My likes and dislikes are irrelevant." He stepped aside.

The Uchihas raised their brows.

Next up, some jacket-kid.

"I am Shino." He said as if he were saying "You will die in three hours."

"I like bugs." He continued.

"I dislike people who dislike bugs."

Sasuke had a sudden urge to say "I HATE BUGS!" even though, he didn't.

As far as he knew, he had never seen a bug in his life.

A smiling boy with a strange bobbed hair-cut was next,

"I am Rock Lee!!!" He announced, kicking the air.

"I am the youthful green beast of the city of Konoha!! I love training and hard work and of course, my beautiful Sakura-chan!! I dislike people who give up!!!" He announced with tears streaming down his eyes.

"I also love Martial Arts and I dream of becoming just like Gai-sensei! Yosh!!" his eyes were pouring rivers as he jumped and punched the air, nearly breaking a chandelier.

Next was a girl with purple hair. "I am Hi- Hinata. I like… erm" she searched for something to say.

"… I like sunlight." She finally said for lack of anything better to say,

'Duh.' Thought Sasuke. 'who doesn't?' then he corrected himself.

'Actually, I don't. Not really.' He shook his head and ignored his inner conversation.

"I dislike… People who give up…" she said looking at the ground.

She looked thoroughly relieved as she stepped aside.

A blonde boy with deep blue eyes stepped forward.

"I am Naruto!" He announced. "I like Ramen! Allsorts of ramen! Especially miso Ramen! I also like experimenting with different ramen flavors. I dislike the three minutes I have to wait for the ramen to come out of the microwave… and…"

Everyone watched him.

"My Dream is to become the Hokage!" He said with his thumbs in the air.

All the Uchihas looked at each other.

Each of them was hoping the other knew what the heck Hokage was.

They all shook their heads.

"Er, that's nice." Said Mikoto finally.

Naruto stepped aside.

Lastly, a pink-haired girl with a white stone necklace stepped forward. Sasuke's narrowed eyes widened for a second.

Pink Hair?

She looked at each of the Uchihas and then frowned. "I am Haruno Sakura." She said and stepped aside.

The lack of any introduction, more than anything else caught Sasuke's interest.

"What a lovely name, dear!" exclaimed Mikoto. "and what are your likes and dislikes?"

Sakura looked up at Mikoto.

"I… I like…" she couldn't think of anything at that moment that had not already been mentioned by one of her friends.

"I like independence," she said finally, "and I dislike being indebted to people."

Itachi narrowed his eyes as if a suspicion had been realized.

Sasuke raised a brow as if this arrogant girl was getting on his nerves.

"Oh… well. I hope you all feel comfortable and at home. We are your new family." Said Uchiha Mikoto.

"My name is Mikoto. I like fruits and vegetables." She gave Chouji a meaningful look, but he seemed oblivious.

"There aren't many things I dislike, and I'm proud to be your new mother!" she smiled sincerely.

Sasuke winced.

An awkward silence followed. Mikoto elbowed Fugaku.

"Oh! Aa I am Uchiha Fugaku, your new father." He said. "I am responsible for all of you and I'll have you know that I take that responsibility very seriously."

He passed his gaze over all 11 orphans seriously. They were all more or less paying attention, all but one.

Haruno Sakura was looking determinedly out the window with her arms folded across her chest and her back to the Uchiha family.

Fugaku narrowed his eyes.

"In return, I expect you to take the Uchiha name seriously. Do not do anything to insult that name. I will take care of you all as I take care of my own children." He finished.

They all looked at him in surprise.

'That doesn't mean much" thought Sasuke 'He doesn't do much taking care of us anyways.'

Everyone stared at Itachi next and Fugaku gave him a look.

"I am Uchiha Itachi' Itachi began.

Sasuke noticed that the pink-haired girl who had been pointedly ignoring them the entire time was suddenly paying attention.

'Fangirl…' thought Sasuke hatefully. (or jealously?)

"You will answer to me during Father's absence." Said Itachi.

And really no more needed to be said. That was scary enough and Sasuke smirked at their shocked expressions.

Sasuke watched them all, the fat kid's face was … well, blank.

The blonde kid looked… thoughtful? That seemed strange on such a stupid looking face.

The pink-haired girl was watching Itachi observantly and judgmentally.

The blonde girl was frowning arrogantly.

The girl with the buns looked thoughtful with her arms crossed.

The pink-haired girl was… wait, he had already passed the pink haired girl.

He then noticed that everyone including his own family was looking at him, they seemed to be waiting for something. Sasuke raised a brow. What?

He then realized they were waiting for him to introduce himself.

"I am Uchiha Sasuke." They all looked at him, judging him instantly. He disliked it.

"My likes and dislikes are none of your concern." He finished. The pink-haired girl frowned and turned back to the window.

The blonde girl seemed to have hearts in her eyes. The pale-eyed boy nodded.

"You're weird." The blonde boy announced. The pink-haired girl smiled at his comment.

He opened his mouth to reply when his Mother interrupted hastily, "Alright! Sasuke please show them to their rooms!"

* * *

Sasuke's POV

I raised an eyebrow. I seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

"Alright, follow me." I announced, turning down the hallway without checking to see whether or not they were coming.

I eventually arrived at the first floor of spare bedrooms.

"Choose whichever room you like best." I said, secretly hoping they would all choose their rooms before we reached the floor on which my room was.

They scrambled off in various directions, opening random doors.

"SUGOI!!" shouted someone.

"Na- nani?!' shouted another.

"Impressive." Said one.

"Dattebayo!" said another.

I put my hands in the pockets of my suit, how immature of them. I then noticed one person had not rushed off in search of a room.

I turned towards the pink-haired girl, "Aren't you going to choose a room?" I asked.

She shook her head, "I'll just take whatever's left."

I decided it was irrelevant and turned back to the people who had chosen their rooms.

I ordered a maid to hang up a plaque with the orphans' names on the corresponding doors.

Leaving behind the orphans that had chosen their rooms, I led the rest of the group, four people to the next floor. Two people chose rooms on this floor.

Now only the blonde kid and the pink haired girl were left, both of them stared at me.

"Choose your rooms." I said.

The pink haired girl looked towards the blonde boy who grinned at me.

"I want to see what you'll do if we keep refusing the rooms on these floors." He announced smilingly.

My eyebrow twitched involuntarily. If he kept this up I would have no choice but to eventually take them to the top floor.

I clenched my teeth… _**my floor**_.

"Follow me." I forced myself to say as I headed up the stairs.

I caught them both grinning at each other as they followed me.

Damn them.

On every floor they refused the rooms and I had no choice but to take them further. Kusa…

Finally the blonde said "There sure are a lot of floors in this place…"

I smirked… _Finally_.

"So?" I asked, turning around.

"So, what's on the top?" he asked.

As a matter of fact, the top floor was the very next floor. If I could somehow keep them from reaching the top, my floor would be totally unoccupied.

"Well," I said feigning innocence "You'll find out if you get there."

"Ne, Naruto" said the pink-haired girl "Let's just take these rooms, I'm tired and it doesn't really matter anyways."

The blonde boy looked back at her, "Yeah, I guess you're right, Sakura-chan."

Finally, my lucky break.

"But…" he looked at the stairs.

But what? I narrowed my eyes at him.

"I really don't want to give up now that we've come so far…" he said sheepishly.

No! He couldn't!

"Alright then, Naruto." Said the girl, Sakura "one more floor."

No! What could I do?!

… nothing.

They looked towards me, waiting for me to lead the way.

"Follow me." I said through gritted teeth.

They followed me. My legs felt as if they were made of lead.

We finally reached the top. Naruto looked for another staircase and finding none he announced, "Hey! This is the top!"

Sakura smiled at him. Why did she smile at him so much?

Naruto rushed to the rooms and Sakura followed him. He headed to the first room and read the plaque, "U…chi…ha… Sasuke."

He stopped and stared at the door. "Hm."

He ran to the next door. "Uchiha Sasuke." He read again.

The next door, "Uchiha Sasuke." He said again.

Sakura frowned.

Naruto turned towards me, "Hey! Why do you have three rooms?" he asked.

I walked towards them, "That is irrelevant." I said in reply.

Sakura shook her head "Naruto, let's just choose our rooms already."

Naruto headed to the other side of the hallway. "This guy has three rooms too!" He then laughed. "Makes you wonder, doesn't it Sakura-chan?"

She raised a brow, "Wonder what?"

He just laughed.

I didn't get it either; this kid was weird.

"Well, there's two rooms free." Said Naruto "Let's each take one."

Sakura nodded and checked out the rooms. "I'll take this one." She announced suddenly gesturing to the room that was next to mine.

Typical fangirl… I thought with narrowed eyes.

"Eh?!" said Naruto "But I don't want the room by this Uchiha Itachi guy, he gives me the creeps."

I smirked, that might work to my benefit.

"Aa, gomen Naruto, but this window here will wake me up with the sunrise, so I'm not going to switch with you."

She smiled at me, I must admit, it was surprising to see her smile at me.

"Arigato, Sasuke-san." She said with a polite bow before retiring to her room.

"Sakura-chan…" the blonde called after her weakly before sighing and heading to his own room, ignoring me completely.

I rubbed the nape of my neck; these orphans were troublesome. I headed into my own room.

I closed the door behind me and already felt the invasion of my privacy. Even with a whole room between us, I felt as if that irritating pink haired girl was in the very room with me.

When would I ever be at peace again?

I stood up and headed to the window, she was right about the sunrise, that was the very same reason I had chosen my room.

With a sigh, I retreated to my bed and relaxed for a few moments letting my head rest against the cool pillow.

* * *

Dinner

We sat around a large table. It was the same table we always sat at for our family meals but this was the first time it actually held as many people as it was designed to seat.

I looked at my plate. Escargot?

Was that a wise decision?

Pin-drop silence fell upon the table.

The orphans stared at their meal in surprise and disgust and confusion.

Part of me felt sorry for them. Most of me was feeling a gleeful sadistic joy.

Served them right.

After a silent 5 minutes, the boy with markings on his face looked up at his dog that was sitting on his head.

Let me repeat, on his HEAD.

"What Akamaru?" the boy asked. "No, not now…"

The dog whined.

"Are you sure you can't hold it?" asked the boy.

Was he talking about what I think he's talking about?

"Ano, Miss…" said the boy.

Miss? I looked around to see who he was talking to.

He was talking to my Mother.

"Ha- Hai?" she asked she was entirely uncomfortable with the fact that there was a dog at her dinner table.

"Akamaru needs to go pee." Said the boy bluntly.

My eyebrow twitched involuntarily.

"Ah!" my Mother did not know what to say.

This was altogether too much for my Father, "He can hold it." He said gruffly.

"I told you Akamaru. Just hold it." Said the boy.

This was insufferable for the dog. He jumped off the boy's head and onto the table.

What the…?!

The dog ran down the length of the table stepping in people's food. I noticed my mother turn deathly pale.

"AKAMARU!!" shouted the boy and a few others who knew the dog's name.

The boy jumped onto the table and crawled/ran after the dog. He accidentally kicked a plate that went flying into the face of the person across from me, Haruno Sakura.

Her face turned red with fury and she picked up a random plate and threw it at the boy. The boy continued running and the plate missed by a mile.

It flew directly into my face.

I glared at the pink-haired girl but before I could do anything the boy tripped over the tablecloth (don't ask me how) in an attempt to catch his dog.

He fell on Itachi, knocking him over.

Akamaru then relieved himself on the table.

My Mother fainted.

* * *

15 minutes later…

After Sakura and I had changed our clothes, we returned to the dining room.

My Father held my Mother and was fanning her face with a piece of paper. His face was white with concern and worry. Apparently, she had not yet regained consciousness.

The boy was trying desperately to apologize.

My Father turned on him furiously "You! You- you- YOU!"

Apparently, he was at a loss for words.

Itachi stepped forward and said "I will take care of this, Father."

Father nodded and Itachi turned towards the orphans. Most of them shivered with fear.

Something inside me grinned with evil glee.

"Follow me," said Itachi to the orphans.

He led them down several hallways and eventually into a room with several chairs where fish tanks lined the walls.

"Have a seat." He said. They all obeyed him immediately.

He scanned their faces with an unmoving eye.

"The fiasco that occurred at tonight's dinner table will not happen again." He said.

All the orphans were seated except for Aniki and myself. Aniki stood at the front of the room lecturing the orphans and I was leaning against the wall by the door with my arms folded.

"Kiba you will suffer a punishment for your lack of control today." Said Itachi.

A collective shudder passed through the orphans.

"Your dog will be released from your care." Itachi announced.

"Huh?! But-!" Kiba began, how did Aniki remember his name?

Itachi cut him off with a glare that said "I'm in charge."

The orphans were quiet and Sakura was scowling.

Sakura stood up "No, Itachi-san." She said calmly.

"This punishment is not just." She said.

The orphans were surprised, Sakura seemed ticked off.

"We do not live and we have never lived the way you do." She said.

"You have never known a world where no one cares for you and where you are the only one who can bring about the fulfillment of your wishes."

She looked up at him defiantly.

"But we have known that world. And when you find a friend in the midst of that solitude, it is something important that lasts a lifetime! Akamaru was all that Kiba had and if you think that you can just take Akamaru away you're wrong!"

"We don't need your pity and we don't need your sympathy! We don't want to be here any more than you want us here!" She finished determinedly.

I looked at Itachi to see his reaction, he didn't seem surprised at all.

"Haruno Sakura" said Itachi. "I advise you to keep quiet when you are not asked for your opinion."

Sakura's jaw dropped and the rest of the orphans seemed surprised too.

I smirked. One point for the Uchiha siblings.

Itachi turned back to Kiba. "Your dog will stay with a veterinarian for one week, after that time he will be returned to you. If you fail to take proper care of him he will be released from you permanently. Understand?"

"Hai!" said Kiba obediently.

Not that he had much of a choice considering who he was talking to.

I saw Sakura's face go bright red as she realized her mistake.

"Well, then." Said Itachi standing straight. "For now, you should all return to your rooms and get some rest. You will all be starting school tomorrow."

They nodded and filed out of the room one by one until only Aniki and myself were left.

"Well done, Aniki." I said in my usual monotone.

He merely nodded and we headed to our rooms. As I passed the dining room, I noticed that Mother was still unconscious and Father was now holding smelling salts under her nose.

I shook my head and continued up the stairs.

* * *

**Truth be told, I'm not too happy with this chapter, I was actually planning to stop after I told their first day of school but then the chapter was getting too long.**

**Im getting really involved with another story "proving innocent" thanks to which, I am now neglecting my other stories.**

**Well, I hope you liked it, even though it wasn't so good. Sigh...**


	3. First Day of School

OK! I am REALLY upset because stupid Karin is getting in the way of sasusaku and stupid Sasuke is so mean to Sakura!

I know he's just trying to make her hate him so he can break his bonds but…

Sakura: he is?

Me: duh…

Itachi: I'm rather upset with my brother at the moment…

Me: Me too! BUT, I just figured something out…

Sasuke: what?

Me: Well, Sasuke cares about Sakura to a certain extent, right…?

Sasuke, Itachi, Sakura: Right.

Me: Now! What is the only thing standing in between Sasuke and Sakura?

Itachi:…?

Sasuke: Revenge?

Itachi: ME?

Sakura: yeah…

Me: SO! Technically, Sasuke is running away from Konoha recruiting suigetsu and all these losers, just so he can kill Itachi! And he wants to kill Itachi just so he can be with Sakura!

Itachi *to Sasuke* Your so mean to me.

Sasuke: whatever, it looks like she's figured me out…

Sakura: You know, that's highly unlikely… Sasuke-kun really doesn't care about me…

Itachi/Sasuke: WHAT?

Sasuke: of course I care about you, Sakura.

Sakura:!

Itachi: whew that was close…

Sakura: you do?

Sasuke: yes.

Itachi: hey isn't it about time you got on with the story?

Me: uh… yeah…

*readers throw random crap at me*

Me: Uh... ok! Ok! Moving on! I just wanted to say because I am so upset about the lack of sasusaku things, this chapter will be loaded with sasusaku! YAY!

3-3-3-3-3—3-

I woke up to the sound of a loud BOOM! I jolted upright in bed and glared at my alarm clock.

4:30 AM…

That was a whole 30 MINUTES ahead of my schedule… An INTERRUPTION of my routine.

I felt the insuppressible need to kill something. A loud scream coming from outside my door offered me an available victim.

My sharingan activated involuntarily.

The loud ruckus outside was cut short as I slammed the door open.

The blonde boy, the blonde girl, the kid with the dog, and Haruno Sakura stood in the hallway.

Apparently, the kid with the dog had been chasing his dog through the mansion which explained why there was cracked porcelain and earth scattered throughout the hallway.

"W...H…A…T… THE… H … E…L…L ARE YOU PEOPLE DOING?" I think I popped a brain cell with that one.

Everyone stared at me with fear written on their faces. No one answered.

The door across from me suddenly opened and Itachi's glare melted the trespassers who were now bubbling masses of melted ex-humans.

"What is going on here?" He asked in a cool, extremely angry, voice.

The puddles melted still further until they dripped onto the lower floor.

"Answer the question." I added with another icy glare.

Haruno Sakura was the only one to find her backbone and take responsibility for their actions.

"Moshi wake arimasen." She said bowing politely. "It is our fault entirely, Akamaru went missing, Kiba found him, but Akamaru had been eating some chili powder and so he ran around without stopping and Kiba tried to catch him but…"

She noticed our blank expressions as we failed to keep up with her one-sided conversation and finished with,

"… It won't happen again."

"That's right." Said Itachi stepping out of his room.

He picked up Akamaru,

"It won't."

A maid popped up out of nowhere and took Akamaru from Itachi.

Itachi turned to Kiba, "You will see your dog at the end of the week."

Kiba blubbered incoherently before bursting into tears and running down the stairs.

I stared after the idiot. This was a perfect start to the worst day of my life.

I suddenly noticed that the hallway was awkwardly silent.

The blonde girl was staring at me and … Drooling?

I then noticed that I was wearing my black pajamas and no shirt. With a groan of frustration, I headed back into my room and slammed the door.

I hate my life…

12345678910123456789123456789

I had showered, finished my homework, and even gone so far as to CLEAN MY OWN ROOM, and still no breakfast had arrived.

This called for homicide.

With graphic violence flashing before my eyes I headed to… the kitchen.

I slammed open the kitchen door and all the servants there became instantly silent. A few faces turned white.

No matter. They would be red in a second.

Blood red.

"WHERE THE HELL IS HE!" shouted a voice that partially cooled my anger.

A girl with long black hair and black eyes that flashed dangerously barged into the room.

"Where the hell is your Father? I'll tear him to shreds!"

Ah. That would be Sande. And if she was looking for my father, that meant I'd better leave the building.

"I'm not sure, why?" I asked.

"I'll kill him! I'll boil his eyes in lemon juice!" She continued raving madly.

I raised an eyebrow.

"That IDIOT!" She continued. "He has RESPONSIBILITIES dammit!"

She stopped suddenly, "Sasuke, what are you doing in the kitchen?" she asked.

I sighed. "Today," I sent a glare to every corner of the room where a servant might have been hiding.

"There was no breakfast."

Sande gasped. A glass deep in a cooking area of the kitchen that was hidden by some western swinging metal doors fell and shattered.

"Wh-wh-why?" she stammered.

"That's not all." I said every syllable dripping with vehemence.

"Th-th-there's MORE?" she asked in shock.

I nodded grimly. "This morning…"

An eerie wind swept through the kitchen.

"I woke up at 4:30 am."

Sande's face went sheet white.

Pin-drop silence ensued.

"Masa ka!" she shouted. She pushed me into a chair at a table and rushed into the kitchen, two seconds later, she returned, bearing a tray with my traditional breakfast.

She set it in front of me, and at last, I ate some breakfast.

"So," she said "Do you have any essays for me?"

I thought about it a minute… "I have a history one."

I snapped my fingers and a maid rushed off to get my school things.

"It's about the Second Industrial Revolution." I explained.

"Souka," she said "That's the one where they exchanged iron for steel; it was in the 1800's right?"

I nodded in confirmation.

The maid returned with the instructions for the assignment and Sande took it from her and read it over carefully.

"Alright, I'll bring it over this evening, ok?" she said.

"Aa. Just be sure not to"- but I was interrupted.

"She's writing your essays?" came a voice from the doorway.

The voice belonged to none other than Haruno Sakura.

Having finished my meal, I stood up and allowed a maid to clear the table.

"It's none of your concern." I said. The orphans were really stepping out of place.

"You know that's not right. What would your father say? There's a reason you're supposed to do your own work." She countered.

"Just because you're rich doesn't mean you can bribe or blackmail people to do your homework!" she said accusingly.

"Hey!" interrupted Sande "I'm not being bribed or blackmailed!"

"This doesn't concern you." I repeated to Sakura in an icy tone that made her hold her tongue.

"Listen." I said. "When you're living in this home, you have to follow the rules of this house."

She looked at me defiantly.

"Rule number one." I said holding up a finger. "Uchiha Itachi."

"Rule number two." I said, holding up a second finger, "Me."

With that, I stepped past her, and was about to leave the kitchen when she said softly, "Chotto…"

I froze; she still had something to say?

"You said your Aniki is the first rule?" She looked at me with a raised brow.

"He is." I replied. Itachi is first and foremost.

"Souka." She said with a smile. "At first, I thought you only cared for yourself, but I guess despite the fact that you're an annoying rich kid, you still care for your brother, I misjudged you."

What? I was taken aback. It had nothing to do with caring for Itachi… Maybe it did, but caring for Itachi was equivalent to caring for myself.

And did she just call me an annoying rich kid?

"You're annoying." I said, and turned to leave.

I paused in the doorway, though, and turned back to Sande. "Why did you want to see my Father?" I asked.

She gasped as she suddenly remembered and rushed down the hallway shouting "I'll kill him! I'll KILL him!"

I looked down the hallway with my hands in my pockets and a raised brow. This definitely meant I should leave the building.

Sakura stepped beside me, and also looked down the hallway. "What was that all about?" she asked.

I headed down the hallway in the opposite direction and said "You don't want to know."

"I think I'm going to check it out." She said, heading in the direction Sande had disappeared in.

"Wait." I said.

She turned, "Nanio?" she asked.

"You're going in there? Alone?" it was impossible.

"Uh… yeah." She replied.

I was dumbfounded, what guts…

With a sigh, I stepped beside her and said "You'll need an escort."

"Oh." Sakura said.

We walked down the hallway together in a seemingly peaceful silence that was only disturbed by the sound of the orphans breaking things on the higher floors.

"Ano," said Sakura. "Do you like Sande?"

I stopped, a puzzled expression on my face. Was she crazy?

"Sande is nineteen." I said.

"Oh." She said, continuing down the hallway as if she had said nothing out of the ordinary.

"So, where did she go?" she asked.

"To my Father's office, where else?" I replied.

"Your father has an office in his own home?" she asked, bewildered.

I let my silence serve as an answer.

"So, who is Sande anyway?" Sakura asked, "Like, cousin or sister or…" she trailed off waiting for me to fill in the blank.

"She's Itachi's partner." I answered.

"Partner as in…?" she trailed off again.

I raised an eyebrow at her. "How much do you know about the Uchiha clan?" I asked.

"Erm… not much. You guys are really rich and… you have a hand in the government I guess…" She said.

That's it.

So she knew nothing.

Nothing about the sharingan or our prestigious and historic background. How could such a girl have become an Uchiha?

"The Uchiha clan is a prestigious clan that dates back to Japan's earliest days. We were formerly Lords and Samurai but as such a world became outdated, we became the leaders in business and politics." I lectured.

She listened intently and it almost seemed as if she understood what I was saying.

"So," she said "How does this explain Sande and Itachi's partnership?"

I shook my head, "You'll find out in a minute" I said as we neared my Father's office.

I motioned for her to be silent and leaned against the outside wall, lowering my head. The office doors were wide open, so every word could be heard.

Apparently, Sande had just arrived.

"If they elect you, it'll be the biggest mistake this country has ever MADE!" She shouted furiously.

"The headlines would look great! Wouldn't they? Prestigious governor keeps his own SON from fulfilling his responsibilities! Well, what the hell does that say about the FATHER!"

She shouted as my Father stammered incoherently.

"I- I what-?" he asked.

"Itachi has responsibilities to the Police Force! Just because you're too much of a handicap to manage a single evening without him, does NOT mean that you have the right to pull him off a mission WE needed him for!"

She continued.

"Your problem is that you think just because you're so stinkin' rich you don't have to care about anybody else or your responsibilities to anyone else!"

She shouted.

"Excuse me!" said my Father, "I'll have you know that I donate 2 million dollars to nonprofit organizations annually!"

"SURE!" said Sande "IN OTHER COUNTRIES! If you wanna make the world a better place, maybe you should start looking a little closer to home! You just do the good deeds that will grab attention! Maybe you should fix yourself before you start worrying about other people you got that?" 

I took the silence to indicate that my Father was dumbfounded.

"And Itachi had BETTER show up for today's mission or the media will hear of this!" she shouted as she stormed out of the room.

She stomped down the hallway and just as she turned the corner, Itachi came from the other side of the hallway.

Seeing me, he asked "Where's Father?"

I pointed a thumb over my shoulder to indicate that he was in his office and Itachi headed inside.

"ITACHI!" said my father.

"Yes, Father?" asked Itachi.

"Tell me, Son, you have no intention of marrying that Sande girl, do you?" My father seemed sincerely concerned.

"Of course not, Father." Said Itachi.

"Good!" said my Father patting Itachi's shoulder "Well then, make sure you're not late for today's mission!"

Itachi raised a brow as my Father left the room.

He then turned to me and said "I take it Sande was here?"

"She was being surprisingly tolerant and patient today." I replied.

Itachi left some papers on Father's desk and turned to leave.

"Sasuke, make sure you and Sakura get to school on time, you two are the only ones who haven't left yet." Itachi said.

I glanced at the clock 7:45… I was running late.

"Hai." I said heading down the hallway.

Ordinarily, I would only be worrying about myself but now that Aniki had said it, I had to make sure Sakura got to school on time as well.

As Itachi left, I turned to Sakura, "Hurry up and change into your uniform. We're running late as it is."

She looked at me with a confused expression, "er… but, I don't have a uniform."

"Uniforms were ordered for the orphans in advance, I'm sure the maids must have brought your uniform to your room." I explained patiently.

"In... my… room?" she looked at the ceiling, clearly thinking of all the stairs she would have to climb.

She sighed and shook her head, "Why don't you guys install an elevator?" she asked.

"Just hurry." I said. "I'll wait for you at the front door."

She sighed and ran off and I headed to the front door.

3-3-3-33-3-3-3-33-3-3-3

The uniforms for our high school were very simple. Black pants, white shirts, and black blazers for the males and black skirts, white shirts, and black blazers for the females.

Somehow though, the uniforms had the effect of making it seem that people from this high school all came from prestigious families.

As Sakura rushed through the living room and headed towards me, I was surprised to find that an orphan girl could be taken out of an orphanage, dressed in a Konoha High uniform, and end up looking like, well if not an Uchiha, at the very least she seemed to belong to a noble family.

She almost looked as if she were intellectually and socially on my level.

Impossible.

I acted as if nothing had changed and we headed out the door. I led the way to the limousines and found my usual chauffeur looking sweaty and panicky.

I headed towards him and wondered why he had not driven the limousine up to the front door as he usually did.

"Oi." I said to call his attention.

"Eep!" he squeaked, how manly.

"Sa-sa-sa-sa-sa Sasuke-sama…" he stuttered.

"Well?" I asked with a raised brow.

"Ah, well, you see the 'other' Uchihas each went with their own individual limousine, therefore, I have no limousine with which to take you to school…" He explained clumsily.

"Where's your limousine, the one you drive?" I asked.

"Uh well, you see…"

33-3-3-3—3-3-3-3-3—3-3-3-3—3-33—3-3-3-3-3—3-3-3—3-3-3-3—3-33-

"WHOO HOO!" shouted Naruto as he speeded down the street and slammed on the brakes as he reached a red light.

"Sweet!" said Naruto with a grin as he waited for it to turn green.

3-3-3-3—3-3-3-3—3-3-3—3-3-3-3—3-3-3—3-3-3-3-3-3—3-3-3-3

"You let him WHAT?" I asked, in disbelief.

"Please forgive me, Sasuke-sama!" he said cowering in fear.

I caught Sakura trying to stifle her laughter with her hand and I rounded on her instantly.

"This." I stated. "Is NOT funny."

Somehow, this seemed even funnier to her, and she gave up trying to stop laughing and burst out with very rude, raucous laughter.

"HAHAHAHA!" She held onto her stomach dropped her schoolbag onto the floor and laughed like there was no tomorrow.

I groaned in frustration.

I turned back to the chauffeur "Well, what do you suggest I do?" I asked him.

"Er… Um… Well…" He stammered incoherently.

"Walk, of course." Said Sakura from behind me, still grinning widely.

"Walk?"

3-3-3-3—3-3-3-3-3—3-3-3-3—3-3-3-3—3-3-3-3—3-3-3-

And that was how, I found myself walking across the streets of the city of Konoha.

Like a COMMONER.

I prayed that no one would recognize me.

To think that THE UCHIHA SASUKE was walking around on the streets on his own two feet like a COMMONER.

Commoner. Urgh. Even the word felt poisonous.

"I'll kill them." I said again.

Sakura sighed, "That must have been fun for Naruto."

I raised a brow at her. She seemed like a sensible person, and yet she always took that idiot's side in the midst of his stupidity.

I was certain that, if someone else had done it, she would have been reasonably upset.

I decided that it didn't matter and that she was after all, nothing more than an orphan and a commoner.

She seemed oblivious to the agony of the current situation and watched the scenery with a smile on her face, it was irritating.

I briefly wondered if anyone had ever angered her, and how she gets angry, that would be interesting.

At long last, we reached Konoha high.

Sakura stared up at the large building. There was a gate in the front and a courtyard filled with cherry blossom trees. The building itself was nothing short of magnificent and it was also sparkling clean and spotless.

"Sugoi…" she breathed in admiration.

"Let's just go…" I grumbled walking past the gate.

She looked all around her as we walked, like a peasant. It was humiliating to be in her presence.

I decided to ignore it.

She watched in openmouthed admiration at a large aquarium that covered one wall of the hallway through which we were walking.

I decided I could not ignore it.

"Stop doing that." I ordered as I took her arm and dragged her down the hallway.

"Doing what?" she asked, irritatedly.

"Staring at everything. You represent the Uchiha clan now, never forget that." I lectured once more.

I thought I saw a flash of anger spark in her emerald eyes but it was subdued almost immediately.

"Alright." She said.

"Er… you can let go of my arm now." She said, seeing as I was still dragging her down the hallway.

I let go of her arm, but didn't slow my pace. We were late as it was.

I reached the principal's office, opened the door, and headed straight to his desk.

"This is Haruno- er... Uchiha Sakura, she needs the schedule of her classes." I ordered.

"Tsk, tsk Sasuke," said the principal as he handed me the schedule.

I turned to leave as the principal said "You're late for class, don't develop a bad habit now."

I froze and Sakura too, stopped. I turned slowly and walked back to his desk.

I then slammed my hand on his desk and asked, "Do you like your job?"

"Er, um… yes. I do?" The last part was an uncertainty.

"Hmph." That was a threat enough; I took Sakura's arm once again and hurried to her first class, which was, coincidentally, also my first class.

Homeroom with Orochimaru, this was gonna be a blast.

Without slowing my pace, I slammed the door open, dragging Sakura inside. I dumped her in the nearest empty seat and stomped to my desk.

"You may continue your class." I said to Orochimaru.

"I- I see, Sasuke." He replied, he didn't say anything further because I had arrived into the classroom late, which most likely meant that my day had been full of things that had interrupted my routine which meant I was in a TERRIBLE mood.

All of which was true.

"I'll just continue roll call, then…" He said.

"Uchiha Chouji!" he called.

"Here!" A deep voice grumbled.

Impossible, they were here too? I swept my glare across the room, guaranteeing that each of them felt the full effects of my anger,

"Uchiha Hinata!" was next.

"P-p-p-present!" stuttered Hinata.

What a shame to the Uchiha clan, what a shame oh, what a shame. Some fat kid and a near-mute girl.

"Uchiha Ino!"

"Here!" the girl said jumping out of her seat.

I slumped deeper into mine, what had become of the Uchiha name?

"Uchiha Kiba!"

"…"

I scanned the room for the dog-kid and sure enough he was sitting at a desk in the back at the far left with his feet up on the chair and his knees drawn tight to his chest.

Apparently, he was still mourning the loss of his dog.

What a girl.

"He's Here." The kid with the jacket and sunglasses answered.

"That's not good enough." Said Orochimaru. "When I call Kiba he has to answer for himself!"

"Uchiha Kiba!"

"…"

"Uchiha Kiba!"

"…"

"UCHIHA KIBA!"

"I'M HERE DAMMIT! JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!"

I felt as if Orochimaru were just trying to torture me by calling that guy by my last name three times.

"Uchiha Lee!"

I think that one hurt the most.

"YOSH!" said Lee.

"Uchiha Naruto!"

"HERE!" shouted the blonde enthusiastically.

I turned and sent the Idiot the deadliest glare I could muster. His desk turned to dust.

"Uchiha Neji!"

I actually didn't mind that one so much.

"Uchiha Sakura!"

"Here."

… I'll leave no comment on that one.

"Uchiha Sasuke!"

I sent him a glare as a sign of my presence.

"Uchiha Shikamaru."

"Yeah, I'm here."

"Uchiha Shino!"

"Present."

Wait a minute what was that weird, buggy sound?

"Uchiha Tenten!" said Orochimaru finally.

We looked towards Tenten who did not answer.

She had her hands clasped in front of her face and tears in her eyes.

"Could you say that again, please?" she asked.

What, was she trying to torture me too?

"Uchiha… Tenten?" asked Orochimaru.

I winced. Tenten sighed.

"What's up with her?" asked one kid.

Ino sighed. "Tenten has never had a last name."

Everyone raised their brows.

Ino was an idiot. No one knew that the 11 of them had been adopted so now they were simply thrust into further confusion.

"I see," said Orochimaru, "So the rumors of Uchiha Fugaku adopting 11 orphans were true?"

He smirked, "It's pleasant to see so many Uchihas, but really, there's only one original."

He then walked to me and began… stroking my HAIR? This guy is crazy…

No amount of glaring could get him off my case and the other students were laughing like mad.

This day was worsening by the second.

Sakura stifled a laugh as well, and I sent her a glare. She smiled sympathetically and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

"Orochimaru, teach the class or I'll see to it that you spend the rest of your life shut up in a sanatorium for the mentally insane." I said.

Orochimaru gasped in wounded innocence and turned to the teacher's aide and said "Kabuto!"

"?" Kabuto looked up from his game of online solitaire.

"Oh! Everyone please open your books to page 319." Said Kabuto.

There was a reluctant shuffling as everyone did as they were told.

"Now!" said Orochimaru, "Sasuke, please begin reading at the top of the page."

I scrutinized the page, it seemed normal enough.

"At the equator, the earth rotates at a speed of about 1600 kilometers per hour. (This is about 400 kilometers per hour faster than the speed of sound in the air.) It takes the earth about 24 hours to rotate once on its axis. The amount of time the earth takes to complete one rotation is called a day. So a day on the earth is about 24 hours long."

(AN: Random stuff from a science book I pulled out of my bookcase)

"Well done!" said Orochimaru. "Naruto! Please explain what Sasuke-kun just read to us."

"Well." Said Naruto with a grin, "If I could make anything out of that incoherent babbling it would be blah, blah, blah."

I didn't waste my time glaring at him; instead I plotted a thousand ways to kill Naruto. The more violent the better.

Sakura frowned at Naruto, and answered the question for him.

"The paragraph states that the earth spins at 1600 kilometers per hour which is 400 kilometers per hour faster than the speed of sound. The paragraph also states that the time it takes for a planet to rotate once around its axis is called a day, and an Earth day is about 24 hours long."

"Ooooooh." Said the entire class.

"Very good, Sakura. But next time, don't talk out of turn." Said Orochimaru.

So the day went on, I headed from one class to another, enduring as well as I could, but hating my father all the while.

How could he have done such a cruel thing to me?

Maybe I can have the orphans transferred to a different school. Maybe _**I**_ could transfer to a different school.

My life is hopeless.

Eventually the bell rang, signaling lunch time. I resisted the urge to breathe a sigh of relief and grabbed my bag and headed out of the room.

End Sasuke's POV-

Sakura frowned. Sure, Sasuke was an annoying rich kid, but he was clearly suffering. From what she had seen of his life, it seemed clear that he had no friends whatsoever.

He didn't strike her as the kind of person who really wanted friends but, she was beginning to think that his life was really not so different from how her life had been at the orphanage.

They both were constantly forced into things they didn't want.

She walked into the lunchroom, wondering if the orphans would be able to get along with Sasuke.

Her jaw fell to the floor.

There were about ten girls crowding around the lunch table that Sasuke was sitting at and Sasuke was desperately trying to glare them all away.

She changed her mind. His life was VERY different from her life at the orphanage.

She searched for Naruto and she found him sitting at a large table with most of her other friends.

She sat down next to him and was disappointed to find that the subject of the conversation was none other than Uchiha Sasuke.

"I really don't like guys like that." Said Naruto, looking over to where the squealing noises were coming from.

The group shuddered collectively and sighed.

"It can't be helped." Said Tenten. "The guy's an idiot."

"A cute idiot." Countered Ino.

"He treats us like we're peasants or something." Said Kiba.

"This means only one thing…" said Lee.

"Revenge…" grinned Naruto.

Sakura sighed, she'd just as soon not get involved.

Sakura glanced over to where Sasuke had given up trying to shoo his fangirls away and had let his head collapse onto the table.

With a sigh, she stood up and walked over to his table, two fangirls especially eyed her suspiciously, Ami Hitakitekate and Karin.

"Ano, Sasuke-san," she said.

He looked up, wondering whose voice it was that was not squealing, whining, or shouting.

Seeing the face of Haruno Sakura, he sat up straight and said "Nanio?"

"I just thought that maybe you would want to come eat with us, it's a lot…quieter." She offered.

He glanced over to the table she had come from, the orphans were watching her openmouthed.

"Thanks but no thanks," said Karin stepping in between Sakura and Sasuke, "Sasuke is just fine with us."

"Yeah! You can go back to your own table!" Ami added.

"Actually," said Sasuke pushing them aside. "That sounds like a good idea." He picked up his tray and followed Sakura to her table.

Karin and Ami plotted war.

The orphans stared silently as Sakura sat down next to Naruto, and Sasuke sat down next to Sakura.

There was a few moments' silence. Then… "So, Sasuke! How old are you?"

This came from Ino.

He arched a sleek brow at her and said "Seventeen."

"Oh!" she said as her mind screamed 'The perfect age!'

"I'm sixteen!" she said with a huge smile.

"You should know." Said Sasuke, "That because my Father adopted you, technically you're my sister."

Ino blushed terribly, but Sakura jumped on Sasuke to cover his mouth. It was too late however, she looked over at Neji and Tenten and an awkward silence ensued as they gazed at the floor.

Sasuke followed Sakura's gaze and came to a conclusion quickly.

'Could those two be…?' he wondered. If that was the case, his Father had certainly made a difficult situation for them.

Neji stood up and cleared his throat, "Tenten." He said. "Come with me."

He turned and headed out of the lunchroom as Tenten jumped up to follow him.

With a sigh, Sakura released Sasuke.

She picked at her food, feeling miserably for Neji and Tenten.

Hinata looked at her feet as well, and Sakura wanted to punch Sasuke's father, just once with the superstrength she had learned from the time she and Naruto had known Tsunade.

The turquoise necklace Naruto had given Hinata shined gently, and Hinata softly excusing herself, also left the lunchroom.

"O…K…" thought Sasuke.

Naruto looked after Hinata in confusion, "Ano, Sakura-chan." He said, "Whats wrong with Hinata-chan?"

Sakura raised a brow and said "Why don't you go find out?"

Naruto nodded and left the lunchroom as well.

"Playing matchmaker, are we, Sakura?" asked Ino.

"Don't be ridiculous, Ino, if Naruto weren't such an idiot, those two would have been together long ago." She replied.

Sasuke felt weird to be included in their conversations, and for them to act and speak so freely around him.

He had never been close to anyone other than his brother and for the most part, he was sure he didn't like it.

"Don't tell me that those four are…" he trailed off as everyone began to glare at him as if it were his fault.

He had honestly never thought that such a situation could have been the case, and now that he knew, he wasn't sure how he felt about it.

The remaining students slowly began to leave the lunchroom and Sasuke decided once more that those orphans were nothing but trouble…

AN: Hope you liked it! I'm frickin tired, I was gonna write more but Ive been writing for hours on end, so I'm gonna stop now, people tell me my face is turning weird from staring at the screen all day.

Yare, yare, well see ya! And don't forget to review!


	4. Of NejiTen and NaruHina

AN: Ok, here we go! First shot at updating an old story after a long time. I hope I've improved and not gotten worse…

* * *

Chapter four: Of NejiTen and NaruHina

* * *

The door to the rooftop slammed open as a gust of wind caught it. Neji caught hold of the door and closed it gently. He turned to look at Tenten who was standing at the edge of the rooftop looking down, a miserable expression on her face.

"Tenten…" He called, walking over to her. She didn't look up and he wrapped his arms around her waist, a silent reassurance. she leaned against him and kept her eyes glued dead ahead. He looked up at the sky. "This is something too minor to be seriously concerned about." He said after a long pause.

He could feel her go tense. "In our current situation…" She began "We're siblings. That is so horrible! How can we freely love each other?" She turned around in his arms to observe his expression only to find that his face was much closer than she had anticipated, she flushed instantly but Neji seemed not to notice. He rested his forehead on hers and their noses brushed against each other.

"What we have between us is the product of destiny. No one can change destiny. It may take a little time… but in the end, you will find that you are still in my arms, just like this…." He said softly, his deep voice humming in Tenten's ear.

Her blush deepened and now Neji noticed that her face was very warm. He allowed himself a small smirk.

"You-!" She exclaimed, her face now fully scarlet "What are you smirking about?" She continued, struggling to get away in her embarrassment. "Why? Is there a problem, Tenten?"He asked nonchalantly, his monotone concealing the fact that he was teasing her.

"Of course there is-" She looked up at him and saw the teasing look in his eyes. It was barely there and only someone who knew him as well as she did would be able to see it. His own eyes bored back into hers. His were pale, milky lavender and hers deep, brown amber. The eyes of friends, comrades, partners and then after she had found the courage to confess, lovers. Everything she wanted was contained right there in those eyes.

Neji observed her searching eyes; the unconditional trust within them. As long as there was trust and love, they would be together. This he had decided when he accepted her confession as a fruit of destiny.

He bent his head towards her, his lips brushing against hers and then paused, as if waiting for permission. A small smile graced her features. Then, she wrapped her arms around his neck, closed her eyes, and kissed him, the wind from the rooftop pulling and tugging at them both like an impatient child.

* * *

Hinata had walked the hallways, searching for a place to be alone. She decided to go outside but got lost on the way. She looked oddly out of place here, in the area that was reserved for her upperclassmen, but the harder she tried to get back to her original position the further she got lost. Looking around for a sign that would tell her how to get back she bumped into a hard back and stumbled backwards.

The said person turned around, a glare in his green eyes. "Watch where you're going, shithead." He cursed around the cigarette in his mouth.

He wore the uniform without blazer or tie and the top buttons of his shirt were undone. He looked dangerous and Hinata's terrified eyes widened as he walked towards her. Her intuition assured her she was about to get beaten. His spiky black hair, the scowl on his face, everything scared her.

"S-Sorry!" She exclaimed suddenly, crossing her arms in front of her like an 'X' from her position on the floor. She had closed her eyes in terror, praying that he would accept her apology and walk away. But the sound of footsteps informed her he was still approaching. When the sound stopped she looked up in fear, only to find an extended hand.

"Here," He said.

"Come on, get up." he added, seeing her confusion. She took his hand and stood up slowly, unsure of how she had escaped a certain death. Seeing the look on his face she noticed that he was probably not as horrible as he seemed from an outward appearance.

He opened his mouth to say something when a flying foot kicked him in the face. He crashed through the glass window of the science lab.

Wait a minute… flying foot?

Naruto had just found Hinata with a thug and had, without hesitation, jump kicked his face in.

"Hinata-chan! Are you alright?" He asked taking her hands in his.

"N- Naruto kun…" she said her cheeks going red.

"Damn bastard! Don't touch Hinata-chan!" he shouted.

A weak voice came from the twitching form in the science lab, "Who's touching who?"

"What was that? I'll knock you into next Tuesday!" Naruto threatened, completely ignoring a blushing Hinata by his side.

"Come on, Hinata-chan. Let's go." He said, taking her hand once more.

She allowed herself to be led away as the green eyed guy jumped up and said "I'mma bust your face! Meet me on the roof after school!"

Naruto looked back as he was running ahead, "Only if you're interested in fallings down!"

Hinata paled. '_Oh no, this is all my fault.' _

"Ano, Naruto-kun…" She tried to explain.

"Don't worry about it!" he grinned. "Leave it to me! I can take that ogre!"

They were quickly approaching the cafeteria she had just left. She struggled to find her voice. "He was only helping me up! He didn't do anything bad!"

Naruto froze in the cafeteria doorway. "You mean…?" He pointed weakly in the direction the had just came from. Hinata nodded, deeply ashamed of the trouble she had caused. Naruto's finger quickly bent over like the wilted flower of a rejected lover. His eyes were spinning spirals. Then, he pulled himself together. "Eh he, that's fine. I just won't go to the rooftop then!" He smiled. "Don't worry Hinata-chan!"

He led her back to their friends, minus Sasuke, where everyone was just getting up to go. Tenten and Neji had also returned looking considerably more cheerful. Or at least, on Tenten's part. Neji was just looking less dismal than usual.

Sakura smiled, "Alright! Now that Hinata-chan is here, let's go! What classes do you guys have next?" Sasuke, Sakura, Hinata, and Neji had math. Naruto, Kiba, Ino, and Shikamaru had P.E. Shino, Lee, Tenten, and Chouji had science.

* * *

MATH CLASS

"Alright students, settle down." Said Kakashi, the math teacher who had just walked in 15 minutes late. He was ignored, since no one had even noticed that he came in. Only four students were sitting quietly at their seats. Two of them because being noisy chatterboxes was beneath them, one because she was too shy and obedient to misbehave, and one because she had no interest in the conversation.

There was the sound of fingernails screeching on chalkboard. Everyone froze and looked dead ahead, where Kakashi smilingly turned off the CD player. He had neither long fingernails nor a chalkboard so it's not possible for him to have made that sound himself, is it?

His smile was invisible to the students due to a black mask that he wore at all times. Besides the mask, he wore baby blue shirt and black dress pants. "3…2…1…" He counted aloud.

Old students rushed to their seats. New students looked around in confusion.

"Everyone still standing, please leave the classroom." He smiled, visible this time through his cheerful eyes. "A notice of your behavior will be sent home." They trudged out in silent disbelief.

"Alright! Everyone please open your books to page 105. Those who know how to do these problems please work through numbers one through twenty. Those who need an explanation… eyes on the board, please." With this announcement, everyone opened their books as Kakashi began working his way through the first problem. The work-on-your-own part was a running gag in the classroom since most of the things they were learning were extremely difficult and near impossible to do on your own.

"Sakura, what are you doing?" said Kakashi, eyebrow raised in irritation.

"Huh?" She looked up from her paper. "The work you assigned Hatake-sensei."

He smiled that smile that he only smiles when someone is about to be given a reason not to smile. The you're-in-for-it smile. "Well, then why don't you finish the problem we began with the class?" He said cheerily.

Sakura missed the underlying threat and walked to the board confidently. She picked up a green marker and carried off where Kakashi had left off. Soon, her writing covered the whole board. At the very bottom right she had circled the line that read "x= y³ + 17y² +5"

She walked back to her desk leaving Kakashi to look over her work. He slowly began clapping until the rest of the class (minus Sasuke) joined in.

"I think I've found…" He smiled, sincerely this time, "…my model student."

Sakura blushed in embarrassment.

* * *

PE CLASS

Ino sat on the bleachers among the other girls who claimed to be on their monthlies all year. Leaving Kiba, Naruto, and Shikamaru to do the real work.

They were running laps as Anko-sensei had told them to. (I know, Anko is her first name, it's awkward, bear with me please.)

"I'll definitely come in first!" said Naruto sweat trailing down his face as he struggled to stay a few steps ahead of Kiba.

"No you won't, you moron!" shouted Kiba struggling to catch up.

"It's not a race, you guys." Sighed Anko as she surveyed the gymnasium. Way at the back, there was one person, who was walking his laps instead of running.

"You there!" she shouted. "What are you doing?"

"Running laps" responded Shikamaru.

"If that's running what do you call walking?" She answered heatedly.

"You don't want to know!" said a voice from the bleachers. It was, of course, Ino's.

Just then, Naruto and Kiba fell into an exhausted heap as they finished their laps.

"Sensei, sensei…" said Naruto raising his head weakly, "…Who came in first?"

"Oh, sorry, I wasn't watching." She replied with a smile. "But you can do it again if you want."

Naruto let his head drop back on the floor, as his eyes spun in spirals for the second time that day.

* * *

BIOLOGY LAB CLASS

"Alright now," said Iruka, head of the science class. "Let's all ignore the broken window to our left." He said, gesturing towards it. Everyone's heads turned towards the window.

"I SAID IGNORE IT!" said Iruka. "Ahem. Anyway, today we are going to begin by dissecting these live crickets. It will be a very exciting experience, especially for first-timers. So, if you would please pick up your scalpel and do just as I say, I'll walk us through this together."

He smiled as everyone grabbed their tools.

"Alright, first, make an incision on the underside just beneath the head. Make sure you don't cut too deeply and.." he stopped as he saw a scalpel pointed toward his nose. Shino stood in front of him.

"Let the crickets go…" said Shino in a voice that implied instant murder.

"Class dismissed." Squeaked Iruka.

Everyone filed out followed by a herd of jumping crickets.

* * *

Naruto tried to sneak home but he was caught by two upperclassmen who quickly dragged him down the halls. "Wait!" shouted Naruto. "This is kidnapping!"

But they dragged him all the way to the roof. Where that guy was waiting.

"Tamaki-sama… he was trying to run away just as you said. We caught him though."

He spit out his cigarette and walked slowly towards Naruto.

"Wait!" said Naruto, "If you don't fight me today, I'll give you this!" He held out two free tickets for free ramen.

"Ichiraku?" read Tamaki, confused. He looked at Naruto. "Why are you backing down now?"

"Ehe… that's because Hinata chan told me that you didn't do anything…" Naruto answered nervously.

"Is she… your girlfriend?" asked Tamaki seriously looking at Naruto from dark eyes underneath furrowed eyebrows.

"WHAT? No- no- no- no –no NO! She is just a friend who happens to be a girl!" He stammered. "Like, that, you know more of a friend-girl than a girlfriend… I mean not a girlfriend at all!" Naruto finished his speech with a red face that escaped Tamaki's notice.

"If she was your girlfriend I would definitely fight you today, but since she's not…" he held out his hand. "Let's be friends."

"Er…what?" said Naruto demonstrating intelligence rivaling that of Albert Einstein.

"Let's go eat ramen together." Said Tamaki.

"er… why?" said Naruto in similar fashion.

"The truth is… I like that girl… Hinata." Said Tamaki with a thoughtful smile.

* * *

Sasuke's POV

I headed straight home. There had been more interruptions to my routine than I could take in one day. I collapsed on my bed, thinking to myself. If those four are in love with each other, wouldn't that be awkward now that they are legal siblings? I closed my eyes deciding it didn't concern me.

My cell phone rang, _This how you remind me of what I really am, this is how you remind me…_

I slid my thumb across the screen to find Itachi's four word message. "Family meeting. Call them."

With a sigh, I stood up and alerted my bodyguards and servants to gather the orphans.

* * *

Ino was staring at a flower shop in animated excitement when someone covered her mouth and dragged her into a van.

Shino was in front of an oncoming marathon, struggling to pick up a tiny ladybug that was in their way and would surely be squished. He had just managed to pick it up with a small leaf when his mouth was covered and he was dragged into a van. The leaf fell out of his hands with a whirl. Said Ladybug ended up on the bottom of a Nike sneaker.

Naruto was eating ramen with Tamaki.

Lee was running laps around the school, the bodyguards chased him around a couple times before finally catching him.

Chouji was just about to take his first bite of a slice of cake when he was pulled away.

Shikamaru was sleeping.

Neji and Tenten were walking down a hallway hand in hand when they were pulled apart in similar fashion.

Kiba was in the bathroom… Really.

Hinata was standing in front of the mirror struggling to pretend to confess to Naruto in front of her reflection. She was on the 17th stutter of the first syllable of Naruto's name when she was dragged away.

Sakura was receiving a confession from a starry eyed, brown haired classmate.

They all gathered in the living room.

* * *

I went to the bathroom and washed my face with cold water. With a sigh, I put my hand into my blazer pocket and began the 10 minute walk from my room to the living room. (Remember the hallway-stairs routine?)

As I entered, I saw all the orphans sitting around the table and gave myself a mental pat on the back for a job well done.

Shikamaru was still sleeping.

Ino looked confused.

Chouji looked furious.

Kiba even more so as he was still buttoning up his pants.

Shino was… crying?

Hinata's face resembled a cherry.

Naruto was still slurping up a couple ramen noodles that were still on the chopsticks in his hand.

Sakura looked irritated.

Neji and Tenten even more so.

Lee was the only one who didn't seem to be upset as he stood by his chair, running in place.

Wait. Did I just remember all their names? No, I must have mixed some up.

Aniki and Mother entered with Father coming shortly afterwards.

"Everyone be seated." Commanded Itachi with a clear voice of authority.

When everyone had done so and was staring at the Uchiha family with either confusion or distrust, Fugaku began to speak.

"Your mother and I will be heading back to our business in France today so we wanted a quick meeting with you all before we left. If you open the drawer in front of you, you will find either a wallet or a purse, depending on your gender. Inside, you will find your ID cards, a debit card to access the bank account that we've opened for you, the PIN number to your card, and a cell phone."

They all opened their corresponding drawers and took out the named items. "Of course, we want you all to behave responsibly with money so there is a limited amount of money you can use in a month so that you learn how to manage your finances."

Ino looked up with obvious disappointment.

"At the beginning of each month 10,000 dollars will be transferred into your accounts, and you will have to make do with that for the rest of the month. Of course, bad behavior and bad grades can result in a docking of your allowance. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes," they said in unison.

Alright then, you are all dismissed. The orphans filed out of the room engaged in eager conversation. Mother hugged Itachi and kissed me wishing us goodbye before they left the mansion and headed towards the airport in a limousine.

I looked at Itachi who headed back to the living room and opened a certain drawer. The contents were just as they had been, untouched. Itachi picked up the purse and opened it, taking out the ID card. A picture of a smiling pink haired girl looked up at us and the name Uchiha Sakura seemed to be taunting me.

Itachi closed the drawer and we shared a moment of silence. "Sasuke," began Itachi "Sakura is the one most likely to cause trouble. There is also a risk that she may run away."

"Is that even a problem?" I asked.

"Not for us, but for father, and his problems generally come back to bother us as well" He said.

I folded my arms and raised a brow, "So, what are we going to do?" I asked.

"I place you in charge of Haruno Sakura. You don't need to worry about the others. Just make sure she doesn't cause any trouble." Itachi looked at me, waiting for a reaction.

"It can't be helped then. I'll take care of it." If Itachi is relying on me, I can't afford to be childish and make excuses. He nodded and I headed up the stairs, purse in hand, ready to hand it to its rightful owner.

I knocked twice before opening the door, only to find it empty.

* * *

AN: DUN DUN DUN! So tired! I kind of hate it. It's too rushed. I'm frustrated. Tell me if you like it, I know there wasn't much sasusaku and this chapter turned out very different from what I had planned to write. But now, the scene is set for my plans which will now take place in the next chapter, and don't worry it will be loaded with sasusaku xP. If there are mistakes I'll try to get around to fixing it, please bear with me.


End file.
